Community-driven Initiative for Food Security (CIFS):
This is a food security programme that supports communities to develop their own food security initiatives through the strengthening of the District assembly substructures. A total of 25 communities will benefit by the end of 2009. Currently, ten communities are being assisted to develop their food security initiatives.
FARM I&2:
Following the 2007/2008 droughts and floods that hit the 3 northern regions and some other parts of the country, CARE-GHANA Designed and implemented this project in areas that it was working and which were most affected. The east Mamprusi district was one of the district where PARED was the implementing partner. The project, which was initially designed for 6 months, travelled to 10 months (FARM I) and later FARM II lasted for another 10 months. The project provided relieve to victims of the disaster, particularly victims of communities which implemented the community-driven Initiative for Food Security and had all or most of their farms, animals and others destroyed by the floods. Support was in the food of food relieve in the initial stages
Conservation Agricultural project (CAP):
The CAP started in 2009 in PARED operational area with 5 communities, this was up-scaled to 10 in 2010 farming season. Basically, the project seeks to introduce water and soil conservation techniques through farming practices relevant to the area. The farmer field school model is used where a group of 20-30 farmers constitute a class and constantly work on demonstration plots in which the farming practices are tried for possible adoption by farmers.
Field days are organized to give opportunity to farmers in the locally to come, see and hear from the ‘students’, learn at first hand what they do on the demonstration plots.
This way they become community-based extension agents to the rest of the farmers in the district. Funding is from CARE INTERNATIONAL. The CAP reached out to 250 (178 men and 72 women) direct farmers in the 10 communities. These served as CBEAs in their communities and provided colleague farmers with extension services information. However during farmers’ field days other farmers from around the project communities participated fully, these indirect beneficiaries were over 1600 (986 men and 614 men)) over the project period.
The soil and water conservation techniques adapted included the following: zero tillage, non-burning, cover cropping, and the zai.
FARM Plus Project:
The FARM + project is an extension of two previous projects called FARM 1&2, noted above. In this project, poor households in 40 communities are supported with food and agricultural input including seeds, herbicides, pesticides, to do farming in the rainy season, the food is also to help beneficiaries especially in the lean season of the year (may-july)
Beneficiaries however have to earn money in the form of vouchers to purchase the items in an organized district flexi-fair. Communities identify food security related work like construction of household food storage bans, animal pens, dry-season garden construction and in some cases road rehabilitation and tree plantations that have a wider impact on entire communities. This is basically the Food-for-work model that is being adapted. The physical work is done by beneficiaries who are strong and fit to do such work, while others who are not as strong (e.g. pregnant women) do community messaging on food security issues identified by communities. The last category of beneficiaries is basically on welfare and they are those who are too old or sick to work.
The project started in March 2010 and is expected to end in October 2011. The target beneficiary poor households in the East Mamprusi District are 1800 (952 females, 848 males).
The FARM + project is implemented in 4 other districts in the Upper west and Upper East regions of Ghana.
Livelihood Assets for Women (LAW):
Following the successful execution of activities under the FARM PLUS, a 10 month project was funded by CARE match resources to enhance the women empowerment aspects of the FARM Plus initiative , specifically building women farm storage assets and related positive socio-cultural environment.
The specific results that LAW resources will contribute to are that 6,000 households have adequate risk-bearing capacity to invest themselves in productivity enhancing agriculture technologies/practices.
In all 130 women in 13 communities were supported with various livelihood asset building including:
1. Trainng in post harvest management through the building and ownership of storage assets.
2. Agriculture input support particularly soya, cowpea seed and fertilizer to increase crop yields and income.
3. Small ruminant (goats and sheep) support to women to empower them economically through asset ownership.